Belemnite fossils are tapering cylinders, like the one shown, often with a groove down one side and a hollow centre. At first sight they resemble teeth or bones, but they were in fact the hard body "guard" of squids related to the ammonite and similar to the modern cuttlefish.

Belemnites are now extinct, having flourished in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

See also: ammonites

	Return to Identify by Picture
	Return to Listed Flora & Fauna